PeaceHealth United General Medical Center

Sedro WoolleySkagit CountyCritical Access Hospitals

Mid-back X-ray (2 views)

Quality: 3 of 5 (CMS overall rating)Earliest available date: call (360) 856-6021

What you may pay

With insurance from an employer or private plan: No price posted for commercial insurance.
Paying yourself (cash price): $267 – $317The hospital lists 2 separate amounts for this procedure. They may be parts of one bill that you pay together (for example the hospital’s fee and the fee of the doctor who reads a scan) or alternatives (inpatient or outpatient). We don’t show one price or compare it until we can tell which; every line is listed below. Ask the hospital which lines apply to you.

These are prices the hospital published, not a quote. With insurance you usually pay part of the rate (your deductible and coinsurance); the estimator on the procedure page works it out. A higher price does not mean better care.

Doctors usually bill separately. At most hospitals these are the hospital’s own charges. The surgeon, radiologist, anesthesiologist or pathologist usually sends a separate bill: ask each of them for an estimate too.

Source: PeaceHealth United General Medical Center’s own price file. CareNavIQ last refreshed prices on 2026-11-05.

Next step: ask the hospital for a Good Faith Estimate for this procedure (phone number above).

Bills to expect

A procedure usually brings several bills, each from whoever did that part of your care. Here is what to expect, with what Traditional Medicare allows for each doctor’s part in this area (Washington outside King County) and an estimate for private plans.

Separate bills for this procedure and their estimated amounts
Bill	Who sends it	How likely	Status	Traditional Medicare allows	Private plans (estimate)
Hospital's feeThe X-ray: equipment and technologist	The hospital	Expected	Published by the hospital: the prices above	—	—
RadiologistReading the X-ray and writing the report	The radiology group	Expected	Billed separately; amount estimated	$10	$12 to $18
Ordering doctor's visitThe visit where the X-ray is ordered or the results are explained	Your doctor	Possible	Billed separately; not priced	—	—

What you’d pay for these bills

Adds up your share of the hospital’s bill and the expected doctors’ bills above (not the possible ones). What you type stays in your browser.

Your coverage Insurance from an employer or a private plan Traditional Medicare Medicare Advantage Apple Health (Medicaid)

Your plan’s price at this hospitalYour plan’s rate for the hospital’s bill (ask your insurer)Deductible you still have to pay this yearYour coinsurance after the deductibleOut-of-pocket maximum you have left this year (optional)

Your plan’s summary of benefits says how it charges for each kind of care. Leave these as they are if it uses the deductible and coinsurance.

The hospital's billHow your plan charges

The bill from the doctor doing the procedureHow your plan charges

Enter your plan’s rate for the hospital’s bill to see your share.

Who owes what, and when you might owe more

The insurance adjustment Written off
An in-network provider agrees to accept your plan's allowed amount. The difference between its charge and that amount is written off: you don't owe it, and it shouldn't appear on your bill.
Deductible You pay
What you pay each year before your plan starts sharing costs. It is applied to bills in the order your plan processes them, so the first bill can take all of it.
Copay You pay
A fixed amount for a kind of care, such as a hospital stay or a surgeon's visit. Your plan's summary of benefits says whether it applies before or after the deductible, and whether a stay's copay is per day.
Coinsurance You pay
Your percentage of the allowed amount after the deductible, such as 20%.
Out-of-pocket maximum Your plan pays
Once your deductible, copays and coinsurance for the year reach it, your plan pays 100% of covered in-network care for the rest of the plan year.
Each provider bills separately You pay
The hospital, surgeon, anesthesia group, radiologist and pathologist each send their own claim and their own bill. All of them count toward the same deductible and yearly maximum.
Out of network and surprise bills It depends
A provider outside your plan's network can bill you the difference between its charge and what your plan pays (a balance bill). It can't for emergency care, or when anesthesia, radiology, pathology, an assistant surgeon or a hospital doctor treats you at an in-network hospital: under federal law (the No Surprises Act) and, for Washington-regulated plans and self-funded plans that opt in, RCW 48.49, those groups cannot balance bill you. Your deductible and coinsurance still apply, at in-network amounts.
Not covered, or no prior authorization It depends
If your plan decides a service isn't covered, or it needed prior authorization that wasn't approved, the plan pays nothing for it and the provider may bill you. Ask the provider to get prior authorization before your care. If an in-network provider didn't get it, the provider's contract may stop it billing you: ask your plan before you pay.
A second insurance It depends
If you have a second plan, the first plan pays first and the second may then pay some or all of your share. These estimates use one plan only.
Wait for the Explanation of Benefits You pay
After each claim your insurer sends an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) with the allowed amount, what it paid and what you may owe. It is not a bill. Pay a provider's bill only when it matches the EOB's “you may owe” amount, and ask the provider or insurer about any difference.
Help from the hospital It depends
Washington hospitals must give free or discounted care based on income, including deductibles and coinsurance for insured patients: free up to 200% or 300% of the federal poverty level depending on the hospital, with discounts above that (RCW 70.170). You can apply after you get a bill. It covers the hospital's bill; doctor groups that bill separately have their own policies.
If you pay yourself instead You pay
You can choose not to use your insurance and pay the cash price; then nothing counts toward your deductible. Ask each provider for a Good Faith Estimate. If a bill is $400 or more above it, you can dispute it within 120 days.

Get it confirmed before your care

The hospital, each doctor’s group and your insurer can each confirm their part in writing. Here is a request for each one, ready to send from your own email, and what to say if you’d rather call. Nothing you do here is saved.

Coming: CareNavIQ will be able to send these for you, follow up, and tell you when everything is confirmed, with your permission.

How you’ll payWith insurancePaying myself, without insurance

PeaceHealth United General Medical Center

The largest bill.

Request to send

Subject: Estimate request: mid-back x-ray (2 views) at PeaceHealth United General Medical Center

Hello,

I am planning a mid-back x-ray (2 views) (billing code CPT 72070) at PeaceHealth United General Medical Center.

Under Washington law (RCW 70.01.030), I am asking for a written estimate of the hospital's charges, with the billing codes you plan to use.

Name: [YOUR NAME]
Date of birth: [DATE OF BIRTH]
Insurance: [PLAN NAME], member ID [MEMBER ID]
Planned date: [DATE, IF KNOWN]

Thank you.

Replace the words in [brackets] with your details before you send it.

Open in my email

If you call. Call (360) 856-6021 and ask for the price estimate or patient financial services line. Say: "I'd like a written estimate for my mid-back x-ray (2 views)."

I’ve sent this one

0 of 3 sent. Washington law gives you the right to these estimates but sets no deadline: if you haven't heard back in five business days, send it again or call.

How these are worked out. Medicare amounts are CMS’s 2026 physician fee schedule for this area, at the rate for care in a hospital. Private-plan estimates are 118% to 179% of Medicare for doctors (the range across 19 studies in KFF’s review of what private insurers pay) and 3 to 5 times Medicare for anesthesia (a published industry estimate). Anesthesia is paid by the minute, so its range assumes the time shown. Medicare pays an assistant at surgery 13.6% to 16% of the surgeon’s fee. Where we have your insurer’s own published rates for the doctors here (below), the estimator uses those for that insurer’s employer plans instead. Your plan’s own rates may be outside these ranges: ask each office for an estimate, and for its network status. At an in-network hospital, the anesthesia, radiology, pathology and assistant groups can’t charge you more than your in-network cost share, even if they are out of network (No Surprises Act).

4 published prices, grouped by who each price applies to.

Cash price 2 prices

The hospital's discounted price for patients paying without insurance.

Cash price prices for Mid-back X-ray (2 views) at PeaceHealth United General Medical Center
Price	Part of the bill	Hospital’s description	How it’s set	Setting	Source date
$267	Hospital’s fee	X-RAY OF MIDDLE SPINE; 2 VIEWS	—	Outpatient	—
$317	Hospital’s fee	X-RAY EXAM THORAC SPINE 2VWS	—	Outpatient	—

List price (before discounts) 2 prices

The hospital's full chargemaster price. Few patients pay this amount.

List price (before discounts) prices for Mid-back X-ray (2 views) at PeaceHealth United General Medical Center
Price	Part of the bill	Hospital’s description	How it’s set	Setting	Source date
$411	Hospital’s fee	X-RAY OF MIDDLE SPINE; 2 VIEWS	—	Outpatient	—
$488	Hospital’s fee	X-RAY EXAM THORAC SPINE 2VWS	—	Outpatient	—

Doctors here who do this procedure

3 doctors affiliated with PeaceHealth United General Medical Center billed Traditional Medicare for Mid-back X-ray (2 views) in 2024, most Medicare services first. See all doctors and practices, including those with no hospital affiliation.

Doctors affiliated with PeaceHealth United General Medical Center who billed Traditional Medicare for Mid-back X-ray (2 views)
Doctor or practice	Practice	Medicare quality score	Times billed to Traditional Medicare (2024)	Traditional Medicare amount for their own service (2024)
Charles Ariz, MDDiagnostic Radiology · Bellingham	Mt Baker Imaging LLCGroup of 35 clinicians	88 of 100CMS MIPS 2024, reported by their group	16	$33.35 in the office (no hospital amount)
Christopher Green, MDDiagnostic Radiology · Tacoma	Mt Baker Imaging LLCGroup of 35 clinicians	88 of 100CMS MIPS 2024, reported by their group	12	$33.36 in the office (no hospital amount)
David Cahalan, MDInterventional Radiology · Bellingham	Mt Baker Imaging LLCGroup of 35 clinicians	88 of 100CMS MIPS 2024, reported by their group	12	$31.07 in the office (no hospital amount)

Reading the doctor list

A higher price doesn’t mean better care. The quality score and the price come from different CMS files and are shown separately on purpose.
The amount is what Traditional Medicare (original Medicare) approved for the doctor’s or lab’s own service: Medicare’s payment plus the patient’s share. It is not what commercial insurance or Medicare Advantage pays, and the hospital or surgery center bills separately (surgery centers aren’t in this list).
The Medicare quality score is CMS’s MIPS final score (0 to 100), based mostly on the doctor’s Medicare patients. About half of doctors aren’t scored, so Not rated says nothing bad about a doctor. A group’s score covers everyone in the group.
CMS doesn’t publish counts under 11 patients, so doctors who rarely bill Medicare for this aren’t listed, and No price published means CMS has no amount for that setting.
Medicare’s file doesn’t say where a doctor did the procedure, only that they billed it in Washington. Affiliations are the hospitals each doctor lists with Medicare.

See a price that looks wrong? Tell us about it.